It’s the middle of a magical year in a magical decade and we are in a magical place for boxing. Only boxing royalty is present this night, that and the finest, most gifted artists, writers and performers of the day. The one and only Miles Davis, enveloped in silhouette, plays for the guest of honour, while Sugar Ray’s fellow boxing masters, the ones he has personally invited to his latest post-fight celebration, sit and drink and revel and talk boxing and money and fame and immortality as they bask in the glory they have each long since grown accustomed to enjoying.
Archie Moore, the seemingly ageless light-heavyweight champion, sits at the piano, almost silently tickling the keys as accompaniment to the heavenly playing of the jazz great. Joe Louis, arguably the finest heavyweight of all time, sits and sips on a short, “The Brown Bomber” looking slightly uneasily towards the door as he does so. Then the music stops and our hero makes his entrance.
For just a moment, let us allow ourselves, the true boxing fans to acknowledge the great accomplishment of Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez. Last Saturday evening at the Salle des etoiles in Monte Carlo, Monaco the Dominican cum Massachusetts fighter thoroughly destroyed Denis “Drago’s Son” Grachev after less than two hundred seconds had elapsed. Perhaps the fact that throughout the majority of the first and only round, Grachev stood almost squarely in front of Rodriguez. 
#1 WBO, #5 IBF, #10 WBC, junior middleweight contender Vanes Martirosyan is hoping to get the winner – or loser – of the September 14th fight between Mayweather and Canelo. Martirosyan, 27, thinks he can out-box and stop Canelo, who he hears has problems in dealing with boxers in sparring sessions. 
Freddie Roach doesn’t see the upcoming September 14th fight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) and Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) as being an exciting fight that boxing fans that like action will be pleased with. Instead, Roach sees Mayweather beating Canelo by a decision that is more of a boxing match than a back and forth slugging affair that interests fans.
Trainer Freddie Roach says he’s going to tell Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) to retire if he loses to former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) in their fight on November 23rd at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.
GHANA is engulfed in a festive mood as it host yet another major IBF title. This time around the vacant “IBF International Welterweight Title” is up for a grab. The rivalry is between two of the finest boxers from Africa and Eastern Europe. Pitting the “IBF Continental Africa Welterweight King” and number #5 IBF I/C Fredrick Lawson (20(19)-0-0) on the one hand and the Georgian strongman George Ungiadze (22(10)-14(3)-0) on the other hand respectively. The duos meet next weekend July 20, 2013 and their rumble has already been rated a 4 stars by the boxing pundits.
British heavyweight Dereck Chisora (16-4, 10 KO’s) will be trying to turn around his struggling career this Saturday night in a scheduled 10 round bout against unbeaten American Malik Scott (35-0-1, 12 KO’s) at the Wembley Arena in London, England. Scott, 32, is the world class contender in this fight, while Chisora is a 2nd tier fighter trying to turn his career around after having lost four out of his last five fights. 
by Robert Uzzell: I keep having this eerie feeling that Floyd Mayweather is going to go for it in the final fights of his career. I’ve never subscribed to the fact that Mayweather has ducked or dodged opponents in the past. For every time someone has mentioned this, one merely has to look at Mike Tyson not fighting Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield at times in his career. We can look at the fact that Ray Leonard ignored Aaron Pryor’s and Mike McCallum’s pleas for fights many years ago.
Mario R. (Atlanta, GA): HBO put pressure on Arum to make the Donaire/Rigondeaux fight, but have somewhat distanced themselves from Rigondeaux after he defeated the fighter they strongly supported? I know this is a sensitive issue, but would you attribute this to race, considering how difficult it has been to promote certain fighters?